Stage 3: Implementing and Evaluating

Funding Your Actions
Some of the actions your group has selected will require little if any money. Often actions require donated time or materials from local individuals, organizations, businesses or industry. The more complex management actions--like cost-share incentives, or implementing technical projects -- do require funding. This is when your group will need to explore funding options.

Locally-led planning is typically limited by available funding more than by any absence of ideas or initiative. Obtaining funding to support your management alternatives may seem difficult at first, or local funding may seem limited or hard to obtain. In fact there are many outside sources of grants and other funding that your group can approach with a proposal.

Funding for your watershed effort might be found in established federal and state programs. Most small-scale watershed groups, however, start by looking for funding locally. Local utilities, non-profit organizations, municipalities, and others have funded watershed management actions. This is also a good time to ask for assistance in putting together a workshop on grant proposals. Invite local and state specialists to inform your partnership on the art of grant writing. Some organizations are available to conduct workshops specifically on this topic.

Prioritize Actions
It won't take long to list more actions than your group can possibly do, and the group will need to reevaluate priorities. When prioritizing, be sure to consider the following:

• Funds available
• Return on funds to be invested
• Time and other non-financial resources
• Ability to get the action done
• Early successes motivate more action
• Some actions rely on other actions for success

Be sure to include your advisors in this process. They may have experience in determining which actions depend on others and how to get the most return on your investment. For example, it's important to get preventive actions (such as erosion control practices) underway before taking restoration actions (such as dredging the previously eroded sediment out of a lake).